How Companies Can Prepare for the Future of Work

Successful companies have their figurative fingers on the pulse of what’s working now and anticipate what their organizations will need for the future. After all, when companies can follow trends and predict what may come, they can adapt their business model accordingly and prepare for the future of work.

Below are some tips on how to prepare for the future of work:

Offer flexible work options.

It’s estimated that about 80% of companies currently offer some sort of workplace flexibility. Does yours? If not, it can be a wise investment to implement a program that promotes flexible work into your business now. Many of today’s job seekers are looking for the ability to seamlessly mesh their work life and their personal life together, and that’s achievable through flexible work options, not rigid, 9-to-5, office-bound jobs.

Remember, flex is no longer considered a work perk, but the way to conduct business. So take a look at your industry to see which competitors are currently offering flex. Chances are, if your company doesn’t, you could lose top talent to those that do.

Educate your workers.

According to the Weforum story, “Skill, Re-Skill, and Re-Skill Again. How to Keep Up with the Future of Work,” 63% of workers in the U.S. say they’ve participated in job-related training in the past 12 months. (However, employers are reporting the highest talent shortages since 2007.) Some short-sighted employers might worry about training or helping advance the education of their workers for fear that they’ll quit and take their newfound knowledge to a competitor.

But what’s worse: running the slight risk that an employee might leave, or having an entire team that doesn’t have the necessary skills in order to successfully perform to the best of their abilities? Educating workers—from giving them job training to ensuring their skills are up-to-date—should be the responsibility of the employer as well as the employee.

Offer internships.

Internships are a great way to offer young workers the vocational training they’ll need, both now and in the future. It provides on-the-job experience and training that people might not get from a traditional education. And you never know—the intern you hire today might become a manager in your company in the future.

Teach your team soft skills.

It’s critical that companies (particularly remote ones) are cognizant of the soft skills that telecommuting employees need to succeed—and help them attain them. Providing the best collaboration tools out there is just a start. Managers need to teach workers what soft skills they’ll need for success, such as the ability to self manage, problem solve, communicate, and collaborate—all within a remote work environment.

No matter what industry they work in, these soft skills will always be in demand. While they might come easier to some workers than others, it can be up to employers to train their workers to adopt these soft skills as a second nature to remote work success.